Respect Points
by Ghost
Summary: Short and waffy RikkuPaine. Rated M for mild mature themes and Yuri. And, well, that's about it. Enjoy!


Author's Note: Plot bunny strikes late at night! Three days later, here you have the results.

WARNING. This story contains mature scenes and Yuri. (That's Japanese for lesbianism, by the way.) If you are not mature, do not read this. This story is also pointless fluff. You have been duly warned.

This fanfic is dedicated to all the crazy people over at the Comic Book Rumbles forum. (See? See what you've made me do!?)

Reviews are demanded!

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**RESPECT POINTS  
**

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The sunlight shone in through the windows of the airship cabin, causing Paine to squint as she awoke to a world of burning gold and brilliant silver. The light felt nice on her face.

She yawned and became aware that she was not alone; a warm, naked body lay curled up against her own. With her hand, Paine carefully traced the soft curves of a girl who had only recently begun to grow into a woman.

She turned her head to look at her bedfellow. Haphazard locks of blonde hair, turned golden by the sun, framed an angelic, peacefully sleeping face. The wide open mouth and light snoring sort of ruined the effect, though.

Paine rolled her eyes. "Rikku, wake up!" she said out loud.

"Huwazzah!?" Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, the Al-Bhed girl half sat up and looked around in confusion before remembering where she was. She fell back into Paine's arms and groaned. "I hate it when you do that." But then she place a light kiss on Paine's lips and murmured: "Was it good for you?"

Paine had to smile. Last night _had_ been pretty wild, and so had the previous two. It would seem that the two of them couldn't get enough of each other, now that they finally had some time alone.

After the sudden return of Tidus, he and Yuna had decided to make a trip on foot to Zanarkand together; a sort of personal pilgrimage just for two. Around the same time, Barkeep had jumped ship by the Moonflow to see about some personal business known only to the Hypello. Since the boys had their own designated sleeping quarters in a different part of the ship, this left Rikku and Paine all alone in the cabin at night. And because Brother had taken this chance to proclaim a much deserved vacation for the Gullwings, the Celsius had stood parked on Besaid for the last three days. It had been a heavenly time.

With a content sigh, Paine returned the kiss, only deeper and more passionate. Rikku giggled. "I'll take that as a yes."

"We should probably get out of bed," Paine said, noting the position of the sun through the window.

"Aw, I don't wanna," Rikku said. She burrowed her face into the other girl's shoulder and nibbled it playfully, causing Paine to giggle.

"I'm serious," the ash-haired warrior said, feeling her defenses crumble. "We've (giggle) already overslept and we (giggle) can't waste all day in bed…"

"Don't wanna!" Rikku repeated. "Besides… who says it'd be wasted?"

She gently let her hand caress across Paine's clavicle, down over her chest, sending a shiver of pleasure through her body. Paine closed her eyes, and feeling Rikku's lips brush against hers, she knew that she had already lost.

"_Rikku! Are you and Paine still sleeping!?" _

Choking on a scream, Rikku jerked and tried to jump out of bed, but in her panic she forgot that her legs were still tangled up in the sheets. Waving her arms for a moment, she lost her balance and tumbled to the floor in a heap.

"Owie," she said. Paine had to bite her lip not to laugh out loud.

"_No more loafing!"_ Brother voice blared through the com-system speakers. _"All Gullwings report to the bridge in five minutes!"_

_He can't see us,_ Paine mouthed. Rikku stuck her tongue out at her. "We're up! We're up!" she then shouted. "What's the big idea? What happened to vacation?"

"_Vacation seems to be over,"_ Buddy's voice said_. "We got a message from Yuna over the comm.-sphere network, and she asked us to drop by Zanarkand and pick her and Tidus up. Apparently, our two lovebirds found something interesting over there."_

"We'll be up in five," Paine said. "Over and out."

"Figures!" Rikku said and pouted as she adjusted her miniskirt. "Well, it was fun while it lasted."

Paine started to put on her own clothes. "Hey, Rikku. Why don't we just tell them?" she asked.

"Aw, you don't like having a secret relationship?" Rikku said with a slightly forced chuckle. "I'd have thought you of all people would prefer it that way."

Paine realized that she was right. When she joined the Gullwings she hadn't exactly been very talkative, to the point where her entire life had seemed to be just one big secret. But little by little, Rikku and Yuna had helped her to open up. Now, she had been surprised to learn that it was the lively and openhearted Rikku who wanted to keep a lid on things.

"I'm serious," Paine said. "Don't you get tired of doing things this way? Not knowing when we can be alone together again, stealing kisses from each other when the other's aren't looking…"

"Well, I_ am_ a thief, you know. Can't blame me for stealing once in a while," Rikku joked. The glare she earned from Paine made her stop smiling, though. She sighed. "Look, I… I'm just not ready to let them in on this just yet. I know it' silly and I'm really, really sorry, but I-I…"

"Hey, hey!" Paine stood up from the bed and pulled Rikku in for a tight hug. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pressure you. And you're _not_ silly. We'll tell them when you're ready, okay?"

"Okay," Rikku said, and Paine could feel her relax in her arms. "...Besides, this is your fault for seducing me in the first place."

"Ha, I did no such thing," Paine said. But then she noticed that Rikku's shoulder has started shaking. She frowned. "Rikku, are you crying?"

"…No."

Not believing her, Paine let go of the young Al-Bhed and held her by the shoulder, facing her. It turned out she was wrong, though: Rikku was having a fit of giggles.

Paine's eyes narrowed. "Okay, what's so funny?"

"I just realized, Brother is going to _freak out_ when he finds out," Rikku said between giggles. "Can you _imagine_ the look on his face?"

Paine could, and the mental image was enough to make her burst out in giggles as well. And it didn't help that Rikku picked that exact moment to explode in a chiming belly laugh. ""Stop it!" Paine said, just barely controlling herself. "S-Stop it! Bad Rikku! Minus two respect points!"

"Oh?" Still laughing, Rikku pulled her closer. "How many points left?"

Instead of answering, Paine kissed her again.

"_E muja oui_," she said once they broke the kiss.

"I love you too," Riku whispered.

Then she gently pushed Paine away and nimbly jumped over the nearby railing, landing on the floor of the cabin's lower level. "Come on!" she shouted. "If we take much longer Brother's just going to pester us again!"

With a sigh and a smile, Paine followed her. They would work it all out in time. _For now,_ she thought, _this is enough._


End file.
